We’re closing in on Christmas day, but temperatures are rising at TVLine, where we’ve reached the Semifinals of our Ultimate Female Law-Enforcement Crushes Bracket Tournament.

So brace yourselves, folks, because we’ve got The X Files‘ Dana Scully and Castle‘s Kate Beckett entering the single-elimination world of the TVLine Thunderdome, but only one will leave!

Tomorrow, we’ll launch the second of our Semifinal bouts, and on Saturday, we’ll kick off the final battle of our bracket extravaganza. So make sure the right choice is made by heading down to our polls to vote for your favorites (Semifinal voting will be open for 48 hours), and hit the comments to justify your picks.

I spent more time yelling at her for being stupid and not hooking up with Mulder to notice if she was attractive or not… plus she was smart but not all that bright. I mean, 9 seasons and a movie and she was still a skeptic after all that? I mean how much more proof do you need there, woman? I guess that explains why her and Mulder never really got together! She was as clueless as she was ginger.

they were not together in the 2nd movie, she even had to go and look for him. And they couldn’t keep their child and that totally ruined the show for me. I love Scully but I’m crazy about Kate Beckett so it’s Kate FTW!!!

you must be blind for 2 reasons: 1 if you think kate beckett is any pretty, and 2 for saying mulder and scully didn’t live together in IWTB. Have you watched the movie? THAT WAS HER HOUSE! Maybe you should rewatch before anything stupid comes out of your mouth!

Wait, so were they a couple and Lani just saw the airplane version of the movie or what?? Whatevs, in the last seasons even when he was barely there the two of them were as close as two people could be, emotionally speaking.

I agree with you Lani about the not keeping the child and ruining the show. To me, the x-files finished in season 7 because 8 & 9 sucked. The whole ‘whose your daddy’ thing was stupid, as if these two people didn’t do what is a natural biological urge and had sex. There was more realistic stuff they could’ve done with that then the ‘whose your daddy’ and then they want us to believe that this man who spent his LIFE searching for his sister would willingly give away his son? Or the woman who HEARD and SAW this man’s trauma would willingly give it up for adoption? Idiotic. The second movie stunk because it was a stupid story line, the acting stunk and they tried to hard to show the couple thing. Get real……..Still, as someone else said, Scully is iconic and she inspired millions of girls with idea that smart is sexy….

C dropped the ball after the first movie. They even had a child…care to explain just how that happened? Can ANYONE? Artifical insemination with eggs from…somewhere? (she was supposed to be barren due to alien experimentation, or cancer, or both.) Or did it somehow happen “naturally” when she and Mulder may or may not have had sex in “All Things” which still doesn’t explain the barren thing.

I’m sorry, I was a HUGE X-files fan and Gillian Anderson is beautiful and a BRILLIANT actress. (Rent ‘House of Mirth’ OMG!) However, after the first X-files movie the show did everything possible to ignore the elephant in the room of Mulder and Scully’s relationship and tried to keep the same dynamics as before. It tarnished the series – and the characters. On Castle’s season 3 finale Beckett nearly died due to a sniper’s bullet and in season 4 it’s causing her to revaluate her priorities and what she wants. She’s actually dealing with her feelings for Rick, as opposed to them never being spoken about or seen in her actions. For me, that’s the thing that puts Beckett over the top. Yes, she’s dealing with the mystery of her mom’s murder, and yes, she’s kick-ass Beckett. However, she’s also vulnerable Kate. The character is written to show and integrate those aspects and Stana Katic does an AMAZING job making Beckett come to life.

Certainly both actresses in this match-up are beautiful and talented. Beckett is the more complete character. This makes her more compelling, and at times heartbreaking, to watch. Beckett makes you root for her whereas with Scully it got to the point where the story was so convoluted it just didn’t matter because you knew nothing would really change.

I have nothing against either “Castle” or Kate Beckett, but dude(ette), Kate Beckett’s mother’s murder is a PLOT POINT. For Kate’s character to be believable, you need to have something in her past that made her want to be a protector (a cop) – her mother’s murder is just that. Scully had her BB gun story with the snake and her need to prove herself to her father and, by extension, the father figures in her life, Clarice Starling had her father’s death, Temperance Brennan and Kate Beckett have their mother’s death. It’s nothing to get excited about. It’s simple story-writing math.

Now, in answer to your comment regarding Scully’s seemingly unchanging nature. Scully’s (non-)relationship with Mulder was just one aspect of the character. She can be read in opposition to Mulder, but she is a compelling character on her own. “Castle”‘s entire premise is a bit more relationship-based. Comparing Kate Beckett to Scully is pointless because they couldn’t be any more different characters.

Scully’s conflicts were different. One of her internal conflicts was about knowledge vs. belief. On the one hand, she was a non-believer in the paranormal, but at the same time she was a believer in a higher power (something she couldn’t explain rationally) and a believer in science (something she could explain rationally). That struggle between science (knowledge) and religion/the paranormal (belief) was at the core of her being. As was her reluctance to accept one form of the inexplicable (the paranormal), while she believed in religion (which is, after all, another form of the inexplicable). She started as a non-believer in the paranormal but, as the show progressed, her certainty in her science and her knowledge crumbled. It was Mulder who was sure of his convictions throughout the entire 9 seasons of the show, but it was Scully who had to change and grow, which made her the more compelling character.

You say Sully was a “less complete” character? I beg to differ. First, the chip in her neck. A foreign object invading the one thing a human being should (at least in theory) have control over, i.e. their body. A foreign object put inside her body by the very science she was sure she could trust in. That shook her up a bit. Then, the storyline with Scully’s cancer made her character grow in a big way. In season 5, after her cancer goes into remission, she says that before her cancer she was so afraid of death that she didn’t want to form any attachments, whereas after her cancer she doesn’t feel that way anymore. That’s character growth right there, and it’s not just about romantic attachments, it’s character growth all around because it concerns ALL kinds of relationships (friends, family, romantic relationships). It’s about letting PEOPLE in.

Scully was at her most interesting when you saw cracks in her armor of stoicism. She was at her most interesting when she let herself be vulnerable, when she opened herself up to possibility instead of certainty, and when let loose and let herself NOT be sure about something for a change.

“Castle” is a nice show and all, but it’s a romance show from the very start, and a standard procedural show. It’s fueled by Castle “pulling Beckett’s pigtails” and Beckett loving-hating him. The very fact that Castle is a mystery writer explains that dynamic: a detective/mystery story with male/female duo is an obvious metaphor for a romantic relationship. “The X-Files” is more about a certain ideal of love. It’s a more philosophical show, and more is at stake than just one romantic relationship. It’s about the split between knowledge/belief and power/knowledge. It’s about corporations. It’s about the post-Cold War world. It’s about the impermanence of history. It’s about Watergate (the paranormal is basically a metaphor for Watergate). It’s about the split between modernism and postmodernism. Scully is the embodiment of that split.

Are you actually saying Scully has no depth??? Have you watched the show? I believe They show the depths of Scully in every episode and not to speak of those that focus on the her specifically… In the early seasons you get to now her background and as the show prolongs you see her grow from that and learns to deal with the struggles she is facing. The fact that she is closed but with so much inside makes her a much interesting character than Beckett. I have watched Castle and this should not be a difficult match for Scully. She is definitely a more developed and thought-through character than Beckett. Beckett is an amazing woman but Scully makes you fall in love, not just with her face (which is the most beautiful face existing on this planet) but with her personality and strength. She has real strength and she is fragile while managing to come through. Beckett is superficial as a character, she has no depth, no real depth.

Beautifully put, and I completely agree. Beckett is the type of hero people are looking for right now because she is flawed and complex but trying to be the best person she can be, she is so very compelling and real that you feel for her, cry for her, and definitely root for her. There’s a lot to admire in the character, and aspects in which you can identify with her (or you want to). There is definitely an emotional investment in wanting her to succeed and be happy. She is also absolutely gorgeous and stunning.

Nathalie, yeah. I think Beckett is the kind of character that’s perfect for kids who are too young to have been around when the shows “Castle” was modeled on were on the air, eg. “Moonlighting”, “Cheers”, “The X-Files.” They’re just getting into this kind of show, which is perfectly fine. It’s a good show for kids to start with because it’s more attuned to the post-9/11 world. The character (Beckett) is what it is. She’s not particularly well-developed, which is surprising because, given how fast the show moves, you’d expect her to have a lot more depth much quicker than pre-9/11 heroines. I find Beckett to be a superficial character, but maybe she just comes off as superficial because I’ve seen a character like her a thousand times before, and one that was done much better in the past, so I’d just rather watch those other heroines than Beckett. She has certain aspects of each one of those past heroines, whereas I’d rather watch those past heroines than a mash-up of their parts. I’m actually surprised I’m don’t particularly care about Beckett because I usually get invested in this type of female character. Maybe it has to do with the fact that where Scully’s character development is so subtle, gradual, and understated, Beckett’s is so obvious and without nuance, and I respond to the former rather than the latter. Or maybe it has to do with the fact that I’m closer to what’s at stake in Scully’s development (eg. the split between knowledge/belief, power/knowledge, modernism/postmodernism, ontology/epistemology, history/story, stoicism/passion, etc.), whereas I just don’t care about the stakes in Beckett’s case (if there are any at all other than the obvious romantic sub-plot and the equally obvious “Beckett’s mother’s murder” sub-plot).

One thing that immediately strikes you about “Castle” is how fast it moves. It’s a show that’s perfect for the post-MTV age because the pacing is akin to that in a music video. “The X-Files” takes time to develop. It’s an extremely slow-paced show by today’s standards, especially in the first 3 seasons. On “The X-Files”, the camera lingers on things that may or may not be crucial to the story. On “Castle”, the editing is incredibly quick, so that the viewer barely has time to register all the elements in a scene. I’m not saying one is better than the other, I’m saying they’re aimed at a different audience. If “The X-Files” were to air today, it’d be canceled after the first season because it’s “too slow” for contemporary audiences, and Mulder and Scully’s relationship is just a bit too chaste to be be believable. Most importantly, in an age when strong heroines are disappearing from the movies and are becoming scarcer on TV (which is usually the better platform for female characters), a character like Scully is a dinosaur by TV standards.

Yah your right Doctor Dana Scully: This stubborn of yours that’s why I fell in love woth you Mulder: Just like what you said,that’s why we can be together….from the movie The X files: I Want To Believe.

Gillian Anderson is actually a natural blonde, not a ginger, though I guess since this is about the characters, Scully is supposed to be a true redhead. However, to be a complete ginger you must have freckles. Otherwise you are a daywalker like me. ;)

I’m sorry….did you take stupid pills this morning? It’s not like she still thought Mulder was crazy after nine years, she believed a lot of what they saw after seeing proof. She was still a skeptic because she’s a scientist and an intelligent person besides. Besides Mulder himself said that it was her skepticism that saved him. Also if you watched for nine years and a movie and didn’t notice that Gillian Anderson is gorgeous beyond belief then you need to get your eyes checked.

Scully is iconic, she is part of one of the Classics, X-files lives forever. Castel will die after it ends. I am pretty sure in 10 years no one would remember Becket but a lot will remember scully. She is even competing with a show that runs now. Go Scully.

Totally agreed. Castle will die after it ends because every episode its the same, they find a body, they call Castle, a lot of UST, Castle resolve the case. Just watch one episode and the rest are the same with different victims and bodys, that’s all. In the X Files every episode is different and unique. Besides there’re the mitharc episodes and the standalone episodes you will never get bored. The X Files was, is and will be an epic show.

I totally agree with you,Angel.After few years nobody will remember Castle but the peoples always will remember The X-Files.
This contest make no sense,is obivously that Scully will win.Who can compare Beckett with Scully?There’s no comparation.Beckett is a ugly girl and Scully is a beautiful and smart scientist.
GO SCULLY!

That’s the problem with some TV watchers. They expect every character to hook up and to hook up right away. Sometimes people wait. Her skepticism balances out Mulder’s ready to believe anything personality. Besides, everything wasn’t paranormal, so there was a reason why she needed to have doubt. Clearly, you weren’t much of a fan.

Ok she was a skeptic because she was a scientist and she stayed consistent with requiring physical proof throughout the series. However, if you watched the show you would know that she did open her mind to “extreme possibilities” more and more throughout the series as she experienced more and more. And they were together in the movie, she didn’t go looking for him, she was going home.

Hyde – She’s a fictional character on television in case you missed that… She’s not a real person. The skeptic vs believer aspect of the show was pretty much the whole point to their dynamic as an investigative unit. Scully was by nature a scientist and needed proof before claiming aliens were coming to earth to rip us a new asshole… If you didn’t get that maybe you’re the stupid one.

Um, of course she’s fictional Danilina, I’m not delusional. Her redundant skepticism kept me from watching every episode. Alice and Kane: I may not be 100% on all the details about her and Mulder having a child because honestly I quit watching after about season 5 because each plot was exactly the same (much like Castle is accused to be): 1. Something weird happens, 2. Mulder wets himself with excitement, 3. Scully tries to debunk it or turns her nose up at it, 4. Them or someone they are working with almost dies/vanishes/etc the same way as the weird event, 5. witty comment about the case followed by a shared moment where all the fans hope they’ll kiss or admit their attraction… the end. As for the “Castle will never hold a candle to X-Files” comments… X-files is stand alone because it was ground breaking I will full on admit that as a semi-fan, there hadn’t been a show like that on tv before. At least not with the sci-fi, horror, drama and black comedy like this, THAT’S why it will be remembered, not because of the individual people involved, in 50 years no one will remember the actors. Look at the old classics now, they aren’t being remembered anymore, there’s a special place for them but ask 100 people on the street today what x-files was about and I’ll bet you’ll get maybe half who’ve heard of it and a lot less than that who could even tell you what Mulder or Scully’s first names were. It will happen to all shows eventually, good, bad or terrible. People’s tastes change and I like that people can debate like this. My opinion is my opinion, don’t attack me and call me stupid (Catherine & Delilina) because we disagree. Objectively, in MY OPINION I think Beckett is still way sexier/hotter/crush worthier than Scully. Scully reminds me of an elementary school principal… again, IN MY OPINION.

Sorry, but there are songs called “Mulder & Scully”. Constant references to those characters, their chemistry, as well as the couple all over mainstream pop culture. I really dont know what you are getting at – you just sound bitter.

Hyde…I think you need to pay attention next time you watch the show. She stops being skeptic in the 7th season, and by the 6th season she’s halfway there. And ya, they hooked up in the 7th season, had a kid, and then live together in the 2nd movie as I’m sure you know by now. I think you’re just unsatisfied by Chris carter’s use of subtlety…as am I lol. But still, how can anyone say no to scully?! :p

Okay, those ignorant comments are really starting to piss me off. A lot of these comments the X-Philes are to simply attack Kate Beckett and more specifically Stana Katic.

She is a beautiful and kind actress, and anyone who can look at her and call her ugly must be fairly superficial. Just because I am a Castle fan does not mean I have to attack the X-Files, Gillian Anderson or Dana Scully. And just because you love the X-Files does not mean you have to attack Stana Katic or Kate Beckett.

Unless you have actually seen the show, I think you’re pretty hypocritical saying you hate them. My best friend is a die-hard X-Phile, and yet she gave Castle a try. She didn’t like it, but she gave it a try, and I gave X-Files a try.

Both shows have their strengths and their weaknesses. I personally found Dana Scully to be slightly… well, I don’t really even know how to describe it. I just never really clicked with her character. But I know some people, my best friend included, who find that they understand Dana Scully better than most people they know.

And it’s the same with me and Kate Beckett. I find I understand her better than I understand some of my own family. But even though I’ve found that I don’t really connect with Dana Scully and Gillian Anderson, I can respect her as an actress and a character. She is beautiful, but personally I do prefer Stana Katic. That doesn’t mean I think that Gillian Anderson is ugly. I simply prefer the other.

Can’t we just agree to disagree? I like them both, but I love Stana Katic and I find her and her plotlines to draw me in and keep me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you! I couldn’t agree more! What’s up with everybody hating on Stana?! She’s gorgeous, she’s funny, and Castle is just an amazing show. It isn’t for ‘kids’ as someone said previously…it’s for people of all ages.

My brother, who is almost 30, loves Castle. And he was a hardcore X-Files fan. Now he’s a hardcore Castle fan. My mom and I watch Castle every Monday. There’s so much more to it then people seem to think…

In what world do you live in?
Seriously, why can’t people accept that they’re both beautiful actresses and vote for the one they prefer instead of going all crazy fanboy and striking out against the one they don’t like?
Be nice, people!

Same here, this would be my final two. Too bad they’re meeting in the semi’s. As far as all the back and forh in the comments goes, c’mon they are both very attractive. Choose one or the other, but you can’t say the other is ugly. To paraphrase Harry Burns, “empirically they are both attractive.”

Damn, I knew this would be happening, when I looked at the brackets chart. That I would be put in a position, where I have to choose between Scully and Beckett now. *scratches head*
Ah, I’m gonna have to pick Scully, because she was my first character crush and it still holds steady – despite all other character crushes. So I’m sorry Beckett, but Scully wins here. *makes a face despite it*

Yoo know, people like you make my choice easier. Just because of your comment here I am going to vote for Sarah Walker when shes up against Ziva. I LOVE NCIS and don’t like Chuck all that much (or at all, can’t decide really). But you don’t have to be mean about it and courage other fans to vote against someone so your favorite could win. Least you could do is play it fair. That “don’t vote for Beckett so Ziva could win” is just low. You’re embarrassing other NCIS fans with comments like these, like myself.

Oooh, tough, tough, tough. Going to go with Beckett, I think, because there is just something I love about her a little bit more than Scully. If Beckett doesn’t win, tho, the iconic X-Files leading lady would be a good one to lose to… interested to see the results!

This is a tougher one! I loved the x-files and watched every episode, and Castle is my current favorite show. Thinking about the characters and growth for each, I think we’ve seen more in Beckett in the four-ish seasons that it’s been on than we did for Scully the entire time the x-files was on. They’re both really great, but Kate Beckett gets my vote!

Did/are we watching the same shows? Personally, as someone who has watched each and every show of both series, I have to say you have no clue what you are talking about. Scully’s skepticism remained, but it was modified accordingly. She went from naive to confident and assertive.

Erm, maybe the finale should be postponed until Monday the 26th, can’t imagine the full voting force will be out on Christmas Eve. And didn’t you guys push back the men’s finale to a weekday anyhow?
Just sayin’…

As a woman I never really got the Scully thing. She had exactly one facial expression that looked like she was walking around smelling sour milk all day or something. At least Beckett has a personality.

@dee123:Perhaps I should have said “facial expressions.” Beckett has more than one facial expression. Take a look at the pic of Scully above. That’s pretty much the expression she wore throughout the series and it looks like something smells bad.

Gillian is the sexiest woman in the world in 1996, and you say that not many men found her to be very pretty? wow! Do your eyes still open? can you see your face in the mirror? hahaha. Thank God you’re not a man so you dont understand them. dont lesbian Scully, she’s not. Even if you want her, she doesnt belong to you then

Well, how do you expect her to feel when she knows what she knows? Beckett’s mother was murdered and covered up, but Scully had it way worse. She was medically raped, given cancer, had to watch a child she didn’t know she had die, her sister was killed and the government wouldn’t do anything about it, and so much more. Are you expecting Scully to laugh and smile? If that was anyone else, they would have already been eating bullets. Mulder only laughed and smiled because of his sense of humor, but not many of the other recurring characters smiled either.

Beckett’s personality is modified for the viewer or episode, Scully’s was modified for a series. Beckett’s personality is fan service,

I guess this competition just shows that women are still judged hot or whatever if they have heavy over the top make-up, wear high heels, tight skirts, skimpy clothing, lingerie and most important how good their doctor corrected their face.

You think i should get my eyes checked? I think that Anderson has a face like a horse. Just like Jennifer Aniston. They both have that loooooooooooooooong chin. Although Aniston is better looking of the two.

She had one surgery. One. She doesn’t deserve that it’s her own face and body her own life she can do what she want’s with it your comment was down right rude and un-called for. Seriously? Full of plastic? You need to get your facts straight.

Watch any picture with Stana and you’ll notice that when she started out, her nose-bridge had something like a swollen bump on it. All she did was get that fixed up? Where does plastic come in? You need to get your facts right. She’s beautiful and smart and VERY talented and really compassionate.

Okay, she had one nose job. And she looks beautiful both ways. As far as clothing, I think Beckett is probably the most conservative law enforcement woman I have seen. She wears turtlenecks and she makes them sexy.

She had one surgery. One. And to be honest, although she has always looked fabulous, I have a hard time believing she would’ve made it in this business without said surgery. Skimpy clothing? Try turtlenecks and pants. Obviously you aren’t watching the same show as the rest of us. Stana’s a woman on a cop show, in a world full of men. I THINK she’s entitled to be feminine, with her heels and so-called “over-the-top” makeup.

It’s because the show is currently on, I watch it, and the fandom is huge, but so is X-Files fandom, it’s just some of us aren’t *here* anymore. I don’t think Beckett is more crushable than Scully, there is just no freaking way. So I don’t care whether she wins or losses, she is still Dana Katherin Freaking Scully and no fictional female character can win THAT.

WHAT?! That Beckett’s winning? She’s cute I’ll give her that but I bet she’ll completely be forgotten in 10 years. Scully isn’t exactly gorgeous but her look is iconic and there is just something about her. Beckett is quite generic. That’s my two cents, feel free to disagree.